A woman caught red-handed fraudulently collecting money on behalf of a local charity has been given “another chance” to get her life back on track. 

The 34-year-old mother from Żabbar was escorted to court under arrest on Friday after being caught by officers from the Valletta district trying to sell booklets published by Helping Hands, a voluntary organization teamed up with the Malta Hospice Movement. 

The woman, whose name is being withheld to safeguard the identity of her child, was a former employee of Hospice Malta but told the court that she had left the organisation after getting a job elsewhere. 

Prosecuting Inspector Gabriel Micallef explained that last month, police started receiving reports about someone requesting money from passersby while posing as a charity representative. 

When officers received another such report on Thursday, the police headed to the indicated site where they came across the woman trying to sell a booklet. 

She was arrested and taken in for questioning at around 4:45pm. 

The officers had heard her asking for money for the publication, explained the prosecutor.

The woman had also allegedly been spotted on previous occasions by Hospice Malta staff asking for money. 

When arrested, she was found in possession of an identity tag which the police confirmed as fake. 

Upon arraignment she was charged with fraud, making fraudulent gains to the detriment of Helping Hands to the tune of some €200 as well as making a false declaration in a public document. 

The court sought information about the woman’s background. 

She had a drug problem in the past but claimed to have been clean for the last seven years, said the inspector. 

“She might need some guidance to get back on track, possibly because of the bad company she had been keeping lately,” went on Micallef. 

“It was an unfortunate incident,” intervened defence legal aid lawyer Ilona Schembri. 

“This was no unfortunate incident but a premeditated one,” remarked presiding Magistrate Kevan Azzopardi, seeking further information about the woman’s current situation. 

“I have a social worker. If I’m out of here I’ll go to her so that we can work on a plan,” the defendant told the court, weeping and sniffling in the dock as her mother sat silently at the back of the courtroom. 

The court was then told that the woman had an 11-year-old son. 

 “I am caring for the boy,” stepped in the defendant’s mother, standing up to address the court. 

The court was not convinced that the woman was yet out of the woods, saying she needed to find a job. 

“And to steer clear of bad company. To choose her friends [wisely],” added the prosecutor, while the defendant sniffled.

“If you persist along this path, it will lead you to a long spell of imprisonment,” the magistrate warned her.

The woman pleaded guilty.

“I admit I was wrong,” she said. 

“You’re getting another chance in the child’s interest. His place is with you not your mother. He is the most important person in your life. You’ve burdened your mother long enough with your problems,” said the court, giving the accused quite an earful. 

“If you want to lose sight of your son as he grows up, persist in this path,” Magistrate Azzopardi warned. 

After carefully weighing the circumstances and checking the woman’s criminal record, the court placed her under a three-year Probation Order and a two-year Treatment Order. 

The accused’s last offence dated back to 2014 at a time when she was going through a rough patch on account of her drug addiction. 

The court ordered that the probation officer was to ask the woman for a urine sample at least once a month and to report back to court immediately should that test result positive to drugs. 

The officer was to update the court on the woman’s progress on a six-monthly basis. 

Inspector Gabriel Micallef prosecuted. Lawyer Ilona Schembri was legal aid counsel.